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(No Model.)

T. J. PARKINSON.

LEAP TURNER.

N PETERS. PholMnhcguphgr washmgmn. D. Cv

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

THOMAS J. PARKIN SON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO J. B. IIYNDMAN, OF SAME PLACE.

LEAF-TU RN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Nso. 409,370, dated August20, 1889. Application filed January 16, 1889. Serial No. 296,473. (Nomodel.)

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, THOMAS J. PAEkrNsoN, a resident of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anew anduseful Improvementin Leaf- Turners; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof. Myinvention relates to devices for turning 1o the leaves ofsheet-music-such as the notes of music employed With pianos, organs, andother musical instruments-its object being to provide apparatus vforholding the different sheets of music in proper position for the T5reading of the same by the musician, and enabling' him to turn thesheets Without the difficulty of taking hold of each sheet and turningit, Which often interferes With his playing, and to hold the severalsheets, when turned,

2o in such position that there is no difliculty in reading the notesthereon.

It is Well known that the mass of musical notes are contained on largesheets, which are not of such stiffness that they will stand in theposition in Which they are placed on the rack, and that considerablediflieulty is found by the performer in turning the sheet, especiallywhen performing some difficult piece, and in placing' the sheet in suchposi- 3o tion that it can easily be read, such operation ofteninterfering with his performance to such an extent as to cause a breakin the music, which is extremely objectionable both to him and to thelisteners. By my invention I pro- 3 5 vide a means for turning thesheets and holding them in proper position Without touching the sheets,all that is necessary being to press a key, by which the sheets areautomatically turned and held in place.

4o In my improved leaf-turner I employ a series of holders, to which thesheets are attached at their upper ends, said holders being eachindependently pivoted on a central shaft and having springs for turningthe same,

and having at their lower ends lips, Which engage with a finger or barand retain them in proper position, and said finger being moved a properdistance to free each holder successively and permit the springoperating the 5o same to give a half-turn, and so carry over the sheetin such posit-ion that the opposite side may be read, means beingprovided, as hereinafter described and claimed, for operating saidfinger.

To enable others skilled in the art to make 5 5 and use my invention, Iwill d escribe the same more fully, referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in Which- Figure l is a face view of my improved leafturner,the face of the stand or base being 6o removed to show the operativemechanism. Fig. 2 is an edge or side view of the same. Fig. S is a topview; Fig. et, a cross-section on the line 0c x, Fig'. l; and Fig. 5 isa detail view of one of the spring-bearings, illustrating the method inwhich the operative spring is connected Ato the holder and supportingshaft or bar.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each. 7o

The base a of my improved leaf-turner is generally made of a sizecorresponding to the rest or shelf of the rack on which the music isgenerally placed, or to which my improved leaf-turner is secured in anysuitable Way.

Extending up from the base ais the standard b, which has at the upperend the bearing or bearings c, in which the upper end of the shaft orbar d is jourualed, the lower end of said bar being journaled in thebase a, as 8o shown. Secured to the bar d are the several leaf-holders,which are preferably made of light metal pieces, the holders being madeas light as possible. These holders have the top bars c, which aresecured to the side or S5 vertical bars c2, by means of which theholders are journaled to the bar d. In the construction shown there areiive of these leafturners, marked, respectively, lY 2 3 4 5 and eachleaf-holder has at the lower end thereof 9o a lip, said lips beingmarked f fzj'fif, according as they extend out from their respectiveholders, and each successive lip being made longer than the one in frontof it, so that the rst leaf can be freed by the finger g, hereinafterreferred to, as it is moved along Without freeing the other lips, suchmovement being imparted to the finger as to free but one of such lipsata time, and to free one whenever the key h is depressed, when rco theleaf-holder is carried over by suitable spring mechanism, as hereinafterdescribed, to

the other side of the shaft or bar d, so eXposing the'oppsite side orpage of the sheet of music which is secured thereto.Y Each leafholderhas a bearing Which fits around the shaft d, the several bearings beingmarked 1l 7229131 5, according to the vleaf-holders to which they aresecured, and each leaf-holder has also a spring-bearing, which fitsaround the shaft d and contains a spring secured t0 both said shaft andto the body 7c of the bearing, so that when the leaf-holder is freed, asabove stated, the said spring Will cause the leaf-holder to swing to theopposite side of the shaft, so turning the sheet of music. Thisspring-bearing can be formed in any suitable Way, the simplest formknown to me and that preferred by me being shown in Fig. 5, in which thecoiled spring Z encircles the shaft d Within the body 7c, and has oneend thereof secured to the bearing.

The several spring-bearings on the. shaft are marked k 7a2 7c3 7a4 h5,according` to the dierent sheet-holders to which they are secured. Inorder to regulate the tension of said springs and the swinging movementof the leaf-holders, I provide at the upper end of the shaft d theratchet-wheel d, with which a paWl d2 engages, and in forming theleafturner the several springs are simply placed around the shaft Withintheir bearings and their ends secured in place, and then the necessaryspring-tension imparted thereto by the turning of the shaft, which isthen held from turning by the pawl d2.

In order to prevent noise which might be caused by the striking of onesheet-holder against another as it swings, I place on the face or facesof each sheet-holder one or more rubber or other cushions, as at ci.

The mechanism employed by me for freeing the leaf-turners consists ofthe key 7L, which is journaled in the base c1, and has a spring securedthereto, or is loaded in any suitable Way to hold it in its raisedposition, and carries at one side thereof the pawl h2, which engageswith a ratchet m on the shaft n in the base a in such position that bydepressing the key h said bar is caused to engage with the ratchet-Wheeland carry the shaft fn a distance corresponding to the movement of thepawl. This shaft n also carries a pinion p above a slide or guideway o",in which the bar s, carrying the finger g, moves, said bar having therack-face s thereon, Which engages with the pinion p, so that upon thedepressing of the lkey h, as the pawl h2 engages With the ratchet-Wheelm, it causes the turning of the pinion p and through the rack s forcesthe finger g, carried by said bar s, along a sufficient distance to freeone of the leaf-holders-such, for example, as the leafholder l-Which isthen carried over by the spring Z unt-il it swings to the opposite sideof the shaft and exposes that side of the sheet of music; and upon thenext depression of the key 1n the same manner the leaf-holder 2 is freedand swings over, one leaf-holder being freed upon each de ression of thekey, and only one such leafolder being so freed, as the several lips ofthe leaf-holders are of different lengths, as above described, the lipsof shorter length being in front of those of longer length and the lipsdiffering in length according to the movement of the finger g when thekey is depressed.

The pawl h2 may engage with the teeth of the pinion p, the ratchetWheel` fm being omitted; but I prefer to employ both ratchet- Wheel andpinion.

I prefer to form the cushions e3 on the lips engaging with the finger gand to place them in such position near the ends of the lips as to formstop shoulders for said finger, as shown in Fig. 4, as by so doing suchcushions provide guides for the finger, so that when drawn back toengage With any one of the leaf-turners it will be directed to suchposition that it will be freed by but one depression of the key h. v

The several sheets of music are secured to the leaf-holders by the clipst, which engage,

with the horizontal arms e of the leaf-holders in such position, theupper edges of the sheets' of notes. `The clip t nearest the verticalbar c2 may be permanentlysecured in place; but the clip t near the outerend of the arm e is made adjustable along said arm to accommodate sheetsof different sizes or Widths. Back ofthe bar d, and extending out oneach side of the standard b, are the stationary racks or music-supportsu for supporting the first and last pages or back sheet of music, and asufficient space is left between the lstandard b and shaft d to receivesuch sheet.

In order to provide for the folding of the leaf-turner so that it Willnot occupy so much space for easy carrying, I generally make theprincipal part of the base a on one side of the standard b,'and I hingethe rack or support fu, on the opposite side of the standard, as at u',so that it can be folded back against the body of the leaf-turner, andwhen in use can be opened out and held in place by any suitable device.

My improved leaf-turner can be formed at a comparatively small cost andbe made light and strong, and it overcomes entirely the difficulty ofturning the sheet-music, as all that is necessary is for the operator todepress the key h, which can easily be done during playing, when theleaf is automatically turned and the playing is not interrupted, andeach successive leaf is turned in the same manner. The leaf-turner canrest on the ordinary musicrack, its Weight being generally sufficient tohold it in place, or it may be secured in place by any suitable devices.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In a leaf-turner, the combination, with the leaf-holders, of the keyh, the bars, carrying the finger g, and connections, substan- IOO IIO

tially as described, between said bar and said key, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

2. In a leaf-turner, the combination of the 5 leaf-holder, the key h,carrying the pawl h',

pinion p, and rack-bar s, carrying the finger g, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

3. In a leaf-turner, the combination of a sero ries of spring-actuatedleaf-holders journaled on a suitable shaft and having lips of differentlengths, respectively, cach provided with a stop-shoulder at aprescribed distance from the end thereof, and a linger engaging withsaid lips and directed t0 position by said stopr 5 shoulders,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said THOMAS J. PARKINSON, have hereunto setiny hand.

THOMAS J. PARKINSON.

Illitnesses:

HARRY C. FEHL, Jas. BRYAR, Jr.

